


Future Past

by Kaoupa



Series: A Pink Planet [3]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Pre-Relationship, Ruby and Sapphire aren't Garnet yet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-01
Updated: 2019-03-01
Packaged: 2019-11-07 07:23:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17956130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaoupa/pseuds/Kaoupa
Summary: Sapphire was growing more and more puzzled. As a future far different from what she saw grew to come, she tried to get her life back on the path she was to walk - but more and more, she was finding that impossible.Ruby, for her part, doesn't think much about the future beyond keeping her charge safe. The future will come - for today, there's things to do and people to enjoy things with.





	Future Past

Diamonds rarely needed a Sapphire for anything that she might do. As was only fair, in the mind of all loyal gems. Sapphires were needed by lesser gems, to predict the occurrences of whether or not something they did might go wrong, or to predict any failures that their subordinates might try to hide.

To imply that a Diamond could do something wrong or be betrayed without seeing it coming was the height of blasphemy.

However, when new colonies were created, she tended to call on a few Sapphires before the beginning, in order to ensure nothing would go wrong. More than a few times in the past, disaster had struck an early colony because of something that couldn’t have been predicted normally - a supervolcano erupting due to complications in the terraforming process had once caused Yellow Diamond to have to abandon an entire planet for centuries.

Pink had decided, on her first world, to try and start a new way of turning things to their advantage. And while she was pleased her fellow Diamond was thinking ahead, Blue was certain that things would go wrong if she wasn’t given help.

And since it was her first colony, Pink Diamond didn’t have any Sapphires yet.

She would have to fix that.

  
  
  


“Do you understand your orders?”

“Yes, My Diamond.”

“Good. Carry them out. I await your return after Pink is finished.”

“I will do so. I look forward to seeing you again in time, My Diamond.”

And Sapphire walked calmly away from her Diamond’s court, bound towards the Galaxy Warp that would lead her to Earth, and to her new duties.

“My Sapphire!” “My Sapphire!” “My Sapphire!”

And to the three Rubies that would be keeping her safe during her stay on Earth. She did not respond to the three verbally, but slowed down her walking pace a little. It would be improper for a noble to be seen out in front of her bodyguards - she did not wish them to be accused of doing their jobs improperly.

Nodding politely, she walked behind the three as they went to their destination.

  
  
  


“This is weird!” “I think it looks nice.” “Pff, a bunch of green stuff? Where’s the pink?!”

Ignoring the ongoing debate between her bodyguards, Sapphire had to admit seeing a colony in its first stages was a rare sight, even for her. Usually, Sapphires would only be found in the completed parts of a terraformed world, or would only be contacted via transmissions. Even Garnets rarely had enough political power to order a Sapphire off a world she preferred to stay on. But two Diamonds… that was different.

And Pink Diamond’s still being-constructed palace was… certainly unique. Even if the mostly-barren landscape around it (a… desert?) was similar to Homeworld’s, the palace was like nothing she’d ever seen.

Plant life from Earth (which as the Rubies noticed, was green) had started to be incorporated into a few areas of the building that were open to the sky, with many different sorts of green interspaced and intertwined. And all of them were being tended to by several dozen org - no, humans. The Agate who had greeted her had insisted they be called humans. They had been friendly as well, after she and her Rubies had arrived, with a quick conversation telling her where Pink Diamond had last been.

Streams of water ran through the ground around her as well, clear and clean, with filters at the end of every canal before the waterfalls carried them down to the next level. She could see through both her Vision and her eye 

Sapphire had never seen organic life forms helping with the building process before. It was rather pleasing in its own way, she supposed.

Perhaps she would see if she would try one of these “fruits” later...

  
  
  


Patrolling the corridor outside Pink Diamond’s throne room in the newly being-built desert palace, the Rubies talked among themselves. “So, what do you think that Pink Diamond wants us to do?”

“We’ll probably just be guarding Sapphire and pummeling everyone that comes near her!” The second looked eager, punching one of her fists into her palm.

In the room beyond, Sapphire smiled a little. She had seen this debate among her Rubies coming, at least - her visions were functional. Just… not as accurate as she had thought they would be.

This world should not have been treated in the way that it was, if her visions had been right, and Sapphire was still getting used to everything she had once known being thrown off course. And in the process, she had still been trying to get control of when she did or didn’t See-

“Ah! Welcome to Earth - you must be the Sapphire Blue sent. I’m sorry if you were waiting - I was helping with the gardens for a bit.”

Like now, for instance - her visions had said Pink Diamond should have arrived sooner than this. But she was a Diamond - if she had decided to simply take her time, Sapphire and her Rubies would have waited all the same. “It is no trouble, Pink Diamond. I was… lost in my Sight, just now. I thank you for catching my attention. Blue Diamond has stated that my Rubies and myself are at your service, until you decide we are not needed.”

The smallest Diamond Sapphire had ever seen smiled at her. “Thank you, Sapphire. I might need you for a few diplomatic missions soon - the humans all seem to be confusing me for some figure in their stories, half the time. They spend half their time bowing at first, it seems.”

Sapphire blinked with her eye. “Would you not like to hear any of my predictions on what might happen soon?”

Pink Diamond looked surprised, then grinned. “Well… tell me if you think there’s anything that could get someone seriously hurt or shattered. Other than that, well, feel free to do what you like!”

Sapphire nodded. “Understood.” She would have a few planetary rotations to focus on her visions, then she would likely be called to speak with a population of humans who lived closer to one of the planet’s magnetic poles, since her and her Rubies’ powers could be used there for their benefit.

(She was called up to the Canadian tundra with them less than a day later, after a blizzard started).

  
  
  


Ruby was scared for her Sapphire.

She knew the future-seeing gem had more important things to worry about than her concerns, but… how she had been acting recently had left her worried.

Every day they had been there, life on Earth brought all sorts of new stuff! Just a few planetary rotations - days, they called them - ago, a few hundred humans in clothing had come their way at night, and started trying to attack everyone who was staying at Pink Diamond’s palace!

Beating them up so they’d go away had been a lot of fun, even if Pink Diamond had told them they couldn’t hit them as hard as they could (humans were apparently fragile, compared to other Rubies). And a few of the humans had actually asked to stay there, afterwards, and had started trying to beat them in spars.

None of the Rubies had poofed so far, but they’d gone “out of bounds” a few times, and she’d gotten thrown into a lower-level container of water yesterday when she’d gotten tripped by her opponent while she was charging. Then she’d spent about an hour moving around in the water (swimming?), and that had been cool too! Some of the humans had actually asked her to get in a smaller container of water, and to heat the water a little (she’d been asked to not do it too much, though). 

But Sapphire had been getting more and more reclusive. She wouldn’t talk to them, she barely ever seemed to react to anything, and the only things that could apparently snap her out of her trances was when Pink Diamond had personally come to see her - and it had taken Sapphire several seconds to realize she was there.

If she kept this up… Ruby had to keep her safe. That was her duty, both from the Diamonds and from herself.

“My Sapphire?” She quietly asked, entering the room where the other gem was staying. The other Ruby guards had gone off to spar with the other gems and the humans, with Sapphire’s permission. She had stayed behind to keep her safe.

Now she just hoped the seer would listen to her. As she looked at her, sitting on a “cloth” object that the humans called a pillow, seemingly not bothering to give any notice to the world around her - or to Ruby.

Ruby just waited, patiently. It could take time, these days. And several seconds later, Sapphire began to stir. 

  
  
  


“Ruby?”

“Yes, my Sapphire. I was growing concerned about your actions of late.” Ruby bowed again. “You… your light grows dull, while your mind explores.”

That had always been a threat Sapphires faced. Future vision, while an extremely useful ability, had its limits. Or rather, it didn’t have any. 

Getting lost in the streams of what could be Seen was a threat that many Sapphires had faced, to the point that some eventually started seeing things beside the future. Or only saw the future, instead of the present. Drifting away from reality, towards something that might be reality, or might have been reality.

Only the Diamonds knew what happened to them after that, as far as she was aware.

“I am aware of the risks, Ruby… I regret that what I do concerns you, but this is something I must do.” Sapphire looked as though it was taking her a lot of effort to focus on talking. As though she was trying to See as she spoke. “Pink Diamond requires me to foresee the future for my duties here, and Earth has… so many futures on it.”

“Sapphire, I don’t think Pink Diamond will be angry if you decide that you want to just tell her you can’t See everything. She’s nice, and there’s a lot of stuff here to see-”

“IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT PINK DIAMOND!”

Ruby jumped a few feet when Sapphire started shouting. The seer looked shocked herself for a second, before collecting herself again. 

“I - I could see the path of fate clearly, before I came here. My life was known, until…” Sapphire grimaced. “Every day since Pink Diamond decided to stay here, my Sight has grown less reliable. I could see my life thousands of years into the future, when I was serving Blue Diamond, and now I have trouble seeing what I will do less than ten planetary rotations of Earth away.” 

Ruby remembered her schedule. “Well, you’ve got a meeting with that Morganite who wanted your advice in three of them.”

“I am aware of that. But I cannot see how it might go! Anything - I could be hit by a meteorite in two days, or attacked by an organic creature, I could-” Sapphire started to feel her Sight extend forth again, looking for the possibilities before her, and she dove forwards almost instantly, hoping to find what she sought.

 

 

The one path of her life, that the stars wanted her to follow. The path she had thought she was following for so long, and which she had apparently been taken off without noticing. She would find it again, no-

She was abruptly brought out of her vision trance by someone yelling at her. “-apphire! My Sapphire!”

Sapphire tried to ignore the yelling of the Ruby while she tried to focus. Even if she had been assigned to be her bodyguard, there wouldn’t be any need for a Ruby -

“SAPPHIRE!” 

Then, Sapphire saw something in the future. Normally, she would have ignored it as ridiculous, but with the way her future vision had been acting of late, it was a possibility she could not ignore.

And it directly involved the gem who was in her chamber.

She snapped back to reality, and to the Ruby who was only a few feet away now, desperately trying to get her attention.

She’d have to listen to her, it seemed.

  
  
  


“See? This isn’t that bad, is it?” Ruby asked in her best cheerful voice, as she guided Sapphire through the desert outskirts of the “hanging garden” that was being created, maneuvering her way through a few cacti that had apparently come from another part of the planet. 

Sapphire followed her slowly, absently dodging the prickly spines. “What is it that you want me to see?”

Ruby smiled. “Well, some of the humans asked a Lapis Lazuli and one of the Desert Glasses to help them set this up, and we Rubies all have a shift schedule…” Then, after turning a corner, Sapphire saw a small pool set into the sand, dimly lit by the starlight overhead.

Also, the slight glow coming from a Ruby which she didn’t recognize.

“4ND! Shift change!” Ruby barked, catching the attention of her fellow grunt, who seemed to have zoned out much like Sapphire had been earlier - save that she didn’t have future vision.

“Right! See you later!” The other Ruby hopped out of the water without any complaints, before charging off towards the greenery. Sapphire noted to herself as she ran that a few of her steps seemed to be scorching the sand a little.

“There’s a bunch of sparring matches tonight, and she said she wasn’t gonna miss them.” Ruby said absently, before hopping into the water. “Come on in! It’s great!”

Raising her eyebrow, Sapphire nevertheless carefully lowered herself into the water, controlling her ice powers so that she wouldn’t freeze the pool by accident. She had to admit, the warmed water was… comforting.

“You know… it doesn’t matter how often I do this, it always feels nice.” Ruby asked cheerfully, emitting a little more heat than she would usually - gems had a very different maximum temperature tolerance than the humans who weren’t here at the moment did. “Even if I’ve had a bad day or something, it always makes me feel better than before.”

“I appreciate your attempt to make me feel better. But I must still focus -” Sapphire began to feel herself draw forwards into-

 

 

Then, she got splashed in the face by scalding water.

“My Sapphire, you were spacing out again.”

Sapphire felt her eye twitch. “My duty is to see the future, Ruby. All that I am to be, and all that I am supposed to see. I have failed in it already.”

Ruby’s response was to shrug “Well, so what if you’re wrong again? You said it yourself, it happened, right?”

“Indeed. Which is why I must discern my true path, as soon as I can.” Sapphire mentally noted that if nothing else, she was in a more relaxing place to use her sight.

However, again, the Ruby’s voice drew her from her thoughts before she could start Seeing. “Sapphire, you want to know what I think when I think about the future?” Without waiting for a reply, she continued. “I… I think about having fun with the other Rubies or humans, or watching you. I just think about stuff that I know’s gonna happen, and well… the rest of it can be a surprise! I guess, just… let things happen.”

_“I will not abandon my duties!"_ Sapphire shouted.

“I’m not thinking you should, but maybe you can just not take them as serious? If you’re lost you won’t be able to help anyone, right?"

Sapphire thought some more. And that...

 

 

_ She is right. I... I cannot help them like that. Perhaps I should  _ _endeavor - if I cannot trust my visions, then -_

 

 

Then she didn't have to watch her every step to make sure what she was doing wouldn't send history down a different course from what she had wanted.

Then she wouldn't have to worry about things that she couldn't affect or change.

Then she could...  be free. 

She would listen to this Ruby more in the future.

And she decided to start that future by ignoring the impulse to use her vision to see what she should do next.  “I… believe you are correct, Ruby. I thank you for your insight.”

The soldier blushed at the gem she guarded.

And then the moment was ruined when the top part of the pool spontaneously evaporated.

**Author's Note:**

> The idea of Sapphires being able to get "lost" in their Future Visions and lose track of what's real because of what they See was inspired by E350tb's story "Diamonds are forever", but I wouldn't be surprised if that idea came from somewhere else.
> 
> I don't think this will be all of Ruby and Sapphire's story - but this is the start of it, probably. Tell me what you think, and if there's some way to improve this or any ideas for this universe.
> 
> (And yes, that was Eyeball).


End file.
